A trip to Prague was made more monumental for longtime Regina lawyer Michael Tochor when he received the news he’d been appointed a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench.

Now-Justice Tochor said he received word shortly before he was to go to bed in the Czech Republic’s picturesque capital city on Thursday night.

“It made the long flight back much easier because my head was spinning …,” he quipped on Saturday, back in Regina. “I’m very, very honoured to be appointed. I recognize the responsibility that comes with the job and I’m a little humbled by that … I’m excited about the change, and excited about the challenge of it but, at the same time, there’s a big part of me that is in awe of the responsibility of the role.”

The federal government officially announced the appointment on Friday, stating Tochor is to sit in Saskatoon.

Tochor said he hasn’t yet been made aware of a move date, and noted it depends on the chief justice and the resource need he determines.

Since convocating from the University of Saskatchewan and being called to the province’s bar in 1984, Tochor — who was a partner in Regina’s MLT Aikins firm — has been involved extensively in criminal, administrative and public law.

In his criminal work, Tochor is known for significant trial and appellate matters, and has published and presented on criminal law issues for periodicals and legal education seminars. He’s been a faculty member of the National Criminal Law Program since 2000, and has presented for two decades at the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s bar admission course through the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education.

Tochor has also acted on behalf of various regulatory bodies and for clients appearing before administrative tribunals, with a significant part of his practice involving labour arbitrations and occupational health and safety matters.

Tochor was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2004. He was named in Best Lawyers in Canada and was also named a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Canada.

Between 2002 and 2008, he was chair of the Saskatchewan Police Commission, the body overseeing the province’s municipal forces and the operation of the Saskatchewan Police College.

Tochor also helped found The Book Project, which has delivered more than 27,000 books to Saskatchewan correctional centres; was chair of the Wascana Golf and Country Club; and represents Saskatchewan on the board of directors of the RCMP Foundation, an Ottawa-based charitable organization focusing on Indigenous youth at risk.

While Tochor said he is looking forward to the new role, he will miss his old one and the people with whom he shared it.

“It’s going to be very hard to leave the firm I’m at now,” he said. “It’s been a very good firm, and I’m working alongside a very good team of people. You build up friendships and relationships over many, many years, and that’s going to be a very hard thing to do is to leave what I have here in terms of relationships with people.”